NICOSIA, 9 March 2005 — Turkish-Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat, a supporter of Cyprus reunification and European Union membership, said on Monday he would run in his enclave’s presidential election on April 17. Talat signaled that if he won the job he expected to lead his 200,000-strong community in any revived negotiations with rival Greek-Cypriots on reuniting their Mediterranean island. “I take responsibility to present the will of the Turkish-Cypriot people to the international community,” Talat told Turkish-Cypriot television.
Veteran Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, 81, has said he will not seek re-election in next month’s presidential poll. As chief negotiator, Denktash long opposed UN-led efforts to end Cyprus’ effective partition into two ethnic segments.
Talat is well-placed to win the presidency after his Republican Turkish Party (CTP) won the largest number of seats in a parliamentary election last month. The CTP is now trying to form a coalition government with the Democratic Party of Serdar Denktash, son of Rauf Denktash.
